Sheriff’s office says employee reimbursed county for gas charges

Tuesday

Sep 2, 2014 at 12:01 AMSep 2, 2014 at 7:29 PM

State Bureau of Investigation is the lead agency reviewing a trail of gas receipts and the possible misuse of county credit cards, an N.C. Public Safety Department spokeswoman told The Daily News recently.

Michael Todd - Michael.Todd@JDNews.com

State Bureau of Investigation is the lead agency reviewing a trail of gas receipts and the possible misuse of county credit cards, an N.C. Public Safety Department spokeswoman told The Daily News recently.

However, according to a pdf sent to local media outlets Tuesday by Jason Daughtry with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney Ernie Lee and the SBI gave Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown the OK to handle the matter internally.

The pdf, addressed to an unnamed individual and appearing to be from the sheriff, states that six employees including the letter’s intended recipient had not turned in gas receipts as required. Out of those six, two — the letter’s recipient and another employee — required “more in-depth research” before it was determined “that all concerns relating to that (other) employee were satisfied,” according to the pdf. The letter’s recipient was asked to reimburse the county “$262.76 for gas used that did not benefit the (c)ounty,” and a sentence indicates the employeed did so on Tuesday.

“Any other action relating to the use of the gas card is on hold pending the outcome of the SBI investigation,” the pdf states.

The letter also outlines use by the employee of a personal vehicle on county business without reimbursement.

“You showed me documentation where you performed (c)ounty functions with your personal vehicle traveling approximately five-thousand (5000) miles for which you never received any compensation,” the pdf states. “... Should you had presented these documents for reimbursement, the (c)ounty would owe you $2,775.00”

The letter states the employee’s attorney advised the client against giving up the documents.

Lee and Brown could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday night.

Lee is the one who originally reached out to SBI to investigate.

“I was in contact with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation on Aug. 19 and again on Aug. 25, 2014, about the matter involving the gas receipts with the Sheriff’s Office under investigation,” Lee told The Daily News on Aug. 25. “The SBI has assigned a special agent to this case and I have been in contact with the agent. This is the early stages of the investigation. Due to the fact that the investigation is pending, I cannot comment on the allegations or evidence.”

Brown was previously asked if the investigation involved a jailer — who was named in an email received by The Daily News on Aug. 9. Brown had repeatedly declined to comment and has said the investigation involved roughly seven people.

Lee learned about the possible trail of gas receipts on Aug. 12 and called Brown about the investigation, according to previous Daily News reports. On Aug. 18, Lee received a letter from Brown asking to meet with the sheriff, according to a release by Lee’s office last week. A meeting followed and Lee contacted SBI.